To Rise and Fall
by L. Elizabeth1
Summary: Sequal to The Unwanted One. Ari is trying to control her power. Sasuke is back in his village. Now a new threat had come into the picture.
1. Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any bands, songs, or references you might come across and know. I only own my characters, fictional town, and stuff like that. This is the one and only disclaimer, so please read. Thanx!

Chapter 1

It had been three weeks since Ari and Itachi had escaped Sound, and Orochimaru had been killed. Because of her odd "transformation", Leader had ordered Ari to spend some time away from the base to get control of her personalities. Even though he never said it, Leader was very pleased with the power Ari had shown.

Ari had her bag packed with clothes, toiletries, and medical supplies. She was given pleanty of money for food and lodging, but her teachers reminded her to stay away from towns as much as possible. She did not have an Akatsuki cloak or hat yet, but thanks to Orochimaru she had her ring. She played with it absently on her hand all the time, much to the annoyance to Itachi.

Since they had retuned, Itachi and Ari had been in a constant struggle. Itachi would insult her, and Ari would get mad and end up calling him some immature childish name that did nothing to insult him, but rather make everyone around laugh at the absurdness of it. Their training sessions had become few and far between, thankfully. Itachi figured she still wasn't strong enough to benefit from his training, and Ari would just glare and call him an arrogant jerk. The others watched the two with avid amusement, especially when Ari would get mad enough to engage in a spar. This would always end up with Ari face down in the dirt with new bruises and a damaged ego.

Ari laced up her boots and headed out of her room, looking back briefly to get a good mental picture of what she was leaving behind. Deidara met her in the hall and walked with her to the front of the building where Kisame and Sasori were waiting. Some of the other Akatsuki, who Ari had been starting to get to know, were sparing in the back of the building, and causing enough noise to wake the dead.

"Well girly, don't go getting yourself killed, kidnapped, or pregnant." Kisame joke, patting her roughly on the back. She blushed furiously at the implication of the last thing he said and promised she wouldn't do any of those things willingly. Kisame laughed and handed her a long wooden case. She looked at him slyly.

"What is this?" she asked suspiciously. He didn't answer, but rather handed it to her. She opened it and laying inside was a sword. She had been learning to use one, and found she was pretty good at swordsmanship. She blushed and picked up the sword. The handle was black, inlaid with gold and the blade was a stainless silver. The sword itself wasn't heavy at all, and she wondered what kind of metal it was. The sheath was absolutely beautiful, black and ingraved with jade flame like patterns. She smiled and bowed deeply to Kisame.

"Its beautiful, thank you so much." She placed the sword in its sheath and set it on her hip using her belt and the sheath strap.

"We couldn't have you running around the woods unarmed, could we?" he concluded.

Sasori bowed slightly and wished Ari a safe journey and to practice their lessons every day. She nodded and bowed to him.

Deidara gave her a big hug and handed her a small clay bird.

"If you are in trouble, just tell this bird and it will find me." Ari smiled and took the small bird who fidgeted around as she placed it safely at the top of her pack. She said goodbye and walked towards the woods, never looking back.

* * *

Sasuke had reached Leaf, as soon as he came across the boarder, ANBU had surrounded him. He held up his hands as sign of submission. The ANBU captian came closer.

"Sasuke Uchiha. You are a missing nin from this village, do you return on your own free will without causing harm to the village and its inhabitants?"

"I do." He said simply and was led towards the front gates. It was about three in the morning, so thankfully there wasn't anyone wondering about. They led him to the Hokage's tower and up to Tsunade's office. The captain knocked and was called in. A few minutes later Sasuke was ushered inside and asked to sit in a chair in front of Tsunade's desk.

"Your back." She said simply, not questioning nor even believing. She had sent out so many shinobi to find this kid and he just walks into her office one morning.

"I wish to be back for good. I am no longer an avenger." He clarified.

"So Itachi is dead?"

"No." he replied, looking into her eyes. She seemed confused and demanded to know what had happened that caused him to want to return home.

Sasuke started his story with how Itachi had killed his family, and he wanted to become strong enough to kill him. He decided to go to Sound and learn from Orochimaru, and he did learn quite a bit.

"But I didn't learn enough. I was still weak and I didn't know why." He continued. " One day a young girl was brought in, and it was confirmed that she was Akatsuki."

"Wait, a new Akatsuki? A woman?" Tsunade was intrigued.

"About my age. When she was brought in she had a broken wrist and a broken leg, I couldn't figure out what Orochimaru would want with a young girl who could not fight one Sound ninja on her own. That was until I heard her play." He thought back to the music she had played.

"She played a piano, but the way she made music come out of it was amazing. It was as if the notes were coming from her soul, not the instrument." He took a deep breath. "That was when everything started to make sense. Orochimaru was going to use her to give him a son. She was a soul musician, perfect for a Sound mother. He had also planed to lure Itachi to Sound, and it worked."

"At first I though that Itachi had feelings for the girl, but then I just realized she was his mission. He would never fail a mission if he could prevent it. Orochimaru wanted Itachi for the father. Two Akatsuki, one, the most powerful shinobi of his time, the other a girl who could entrance people with her music. He could not have children, so he wanted to take the child when it was born and raise it as his heir." Tsunade listened to his story carefully, taking notes as he went on.

"The girl said something, something that didn't sit right. She said that our clan had betrayed Itachi and Leaf." At this, Tsunade narrowed her eyes at this news.

"I went to ask Itachi, at first he wouldn't tell me, that I could never defeat him if he told me. I wanted to know though, and wouldn't leave. Itachi was drained of chakra and starved, and he gave into me." Sasuke thought back to the conversation.

"_I was on a mission, we had completed it early and I led my team home. I didn't want to wake up mother or you, so I slipped in through my window. I heard voices coming from downstairs, I felt the chakra signatures. Mother, Father, and a few of the other head clan members. You were sleeping in your room." Itachi paused looking at his brother who motioned for him to continue._

_"I made my way downstairs, masking my chakra. Its then I heard them talking about the fall of Leaf. They were going to help Orochimaru and Sound invade, in return they were going to get a large sum of money." Itachi spat out bitterly. "I was disgusted with the betrayal, and realized that the one who would be hurt the most, would be you. If I told the Hokage that the Uchihas were going to betray the village, you would be looked down upon by your peers, they would push your power down and you would never be strong. I made a decision to kill the traders myself, leaving you with enough hatred to be strong enough to defeat me." He looked to his little brother, whos face was half in disbelief and half in realization. _

_"Why did you want me to defeat you? Why couldn't you just tell me?" Sasuke demanded._

_"I killed my entire family, how long do you think I want to live with that Sasuke? The only one I want to be stronger than me, to finally defeat me, is you brother." Itachi finished, feeling years of weight being lifted off his shoulders. _

_Sasuke couldn't believe his whole life had been a lie. He realized that Itachi was right, he would never have enough hatred for his brother to kill him, Itachi had tried to protect him. _

_"I need to get you and the girl out of here. They are going to give you a serum to make you loose all control of yourself. Orochimaru is going to make you rape that girl, and produce a child for him to raise. I have a plan though." _

"I told him that I would place the girl on a couch, and in the couch would be a kunai. I would be the one to give him the serum, and I would substitute the serum with something harmless." He continued. "It worked. I stabbed Kabuto with the real serum and told him to kill Orochimaru. There was a huge fight, Itachi and I were fighting several Sound ninja and Kabuto was fighting Orochimaru. That is when the girl stepped in." Tsunade raised her eyebrows.

"Her chakra was enormous. She literly blew the side of the building away, and all of us outside. She was floating in the air, her brown hair had turn black and her violet eyes had turned green. She had raw energy crackling around her and we all were stunned at the transformation. This girl was a tiny little thing with now, two broken legs, and she transformed into something entirely different. Itachi stopped her before she killed Orochimaur, claiming that she wasn't a killer. Her hair and eyes turned back and she fell unconscious. Kabuto, however, surged forward while Orochimaru was distracted and shoved a kunai in his chest."

"So Orochimaru is dead?" Tsunade braved.

"Yes. We defeated Sound and went our separate ways; Itachi carried the girl away, presumably to be healed. I decided that it was about time to come home." Sasuke finished his story, looking at the Hokage tiredly. Tsunade called to Shizune who promptly entered the room.

"Bring team Kakashi to me." She told her friend.

"Hai." Shizune left quickly, sparing an interested look at the young Uchiha. Several minutes later there was a knock on the door. Kakashi, Naruto, another guy he didn't know, and Sakura came in the room. Their eyes widened as they saw their own team mate.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you wish to be reinstated as a member of this village?" Tsunade ignored the looks of the newcomers and looked directly into Sasuke's eyes.

"Yes, I do." He answered.

"Do you swear to uphold the laws of this village and protect it with your life?"

"I do."

"Because you left, and came back willingly, there will be a probation period of one year. After the probation is completed, you may take your Chunin and Jonin exams, and return to active duty as a shinobi of this village. Do you agree to these terms?"

"Yes Hokage-sama" he bowed his head.

"Good, meet your new probation officers." She motioned to the three people standing behind him. "Now all of you get out of my office." She dismissed.

* * *

A/N: Okay the first chapter of the sequel. As this all plays out in my mind, I foresee three stories all together. Please read and review!!! 


	2. Normal?

Disclaimer: SEE OTHER DISCLAIMERS!!!

Chapter 2

It had been three days since Sasuke had returned, and things were starting to fall back to normal. Kakashi was always late to their training exercises, Sasuke and Naruto would be trying to out do each other calling one another "dobe" and "teme", and Sakura and Sai would be shaking their heads at the two idiots. Surprisingly, Sai and Sasuke had become friends, even though Sai was essentially Sasuke's replacement.

Things between Sasuke and Sakura, however, were nearly at a stand still. Sakura tried to avoid being alone with him for any period of time, and often went to work early rather than have him walk her home.

"Sakura, can I talk with you?" Sasuke asked after she had just gotten after work.

"Uh, sure Sasuke, walk me home I guess." She answered reluctantly.

"I just wanted to apologize." He said looking at her. She picked up the pace slightly and didn't dare look at him back.

"Apologize for what?"

"For leaving, for knocking you out and leaving you on a park bench, for everything Sakura." He gently grabbed her by the arm. "Please, forgive me."

"I confessed my love to you Sasuke, I asked you to take me with you, why didn't you let me help you?" she finally said what had been bothering her since he left.

"I didn't want you to get hurt, I didn't want you to become a missing nin because of me. You are to good of a person Sakura, I couldn't let you ruin yourself by taking you with me." She sighed, understanding what he meant. "But I thought of you every day. Every decision I made I wondered if you would agree, every time I was sad I thought of something annoying that you would say or do to try and cheer me up." She laughed a little at that, but finally met his eyes. "Sakura, you and Naruto were my first friends, my best friends, and I was an idiot to leave you for power."

"I forgive you Sasuke, but we need some time, to rebuild what has been lost between us. I want to know I can trust you again." They resumed their walk and in a short time, they were at Sakura's apartment.

"Good night Sakura." Sasuke said, with his sly little smirk. The first time in a long time, Sakura blushed. She had that feeling she had when she was chasing Sasuke all around like a love- sick puppy. She turned away quickly, said good night and went to take a cold shower.

* * *

Three days in the woods, Ari realized how much she loved the outdoors. She would meditate for six hours, trying to summon and control Anna, and then fight her until dinner time.

"Damn it!" she shouted, she still was not able to bend Anna to her will and she could feel Anna getting stronger. She decided to pack it in and get something to eat.

She thought about the Akatsuki a lot, about her future, and if she ever really wanted to go back to her world. She had just put a can of soup in a pot to be cooked on the fire when she felt a chakra pattern coming towards her quickly. She masked her chakra and jumped up into the tree she was standing under, grabbing her sword in the process. The chakra stopped, as if confused by the disappearance of the other chakra in the woods. Again it started coming closer, until it was right in her camp. The fire showed little light in the complete darkness of the woods. She saw a shadow, moving towards her fire. She crouched low and then sprang from the tree, sword ready to strike. The man didn't see, feel, or hear her coming as she pressed her blade into his neck. The man swung around and brought his own blade against hers. He pushed her too hard and she tripped to the ground, his blade was now at her throat.

"Not too bad, but you still need work." His stotic voice broke the silence of the night,

"Itachi! What the hell are you doing here?" Ari asked, sounding extremely annoyed. Itachi reached his hand down and she took it. Once she was on her feet, she gave him a glare.

"Leader wanted to check on your progress." He moved to the fire and sat on a log that was near it. Ari sighed and sat down neck to him.

"Well, I have learned better control of my chakra, and as you can tell, my swordsmanship is ok." She paused, looking into the fire.

"And Anna?"

"Well." She paused looking at him; he stared back in a kind of 'don't bullshit me' way.

"I'm working on it." She blushed slightly and looked away.

"Show me." He commanded.

"Same old Itachi, no 'hi hows it going' only get to work lazy weak girl." She muttered angrily as she moved to a clearing to begin mediate. Soon she was able to bring Anna to the surface.

"You think you are strong enough to take me on?" Anna laughed at Ari. "You need me, you have always needed me!" She pushed past Ari and tried to come out of Ari's body. At the last minute Ari forced Anna down with every ounce of strength she possessed. Anna just laughed and fizzled away inside of Ari. Ari broke out of her meditation, drenched in sweat and breathing hard.

"That doesn't look like working at it that looks like failing." Itachi said impassively. Ari just glared and lifted her wet shirt over her head. Itachi looked away politely.

"Oh please, like you have never seen a half naked girl before." She said with a smirk, putting on a clean shirt and a sweater over it.

"I have seen plenty. It seems as though Anna is getting more control of you than you realize." Itachi stated looking at the girl seriously.

"What are you talking about?" she smirked and streached her arms over her head, showing a bit of her toned stomach.

"You just removed your shirt, and blatantly opened your body for my review. Ari, herself would blush at the thought of that." Itachi concluded. Ari opened her mouth slightly, piecing together what Itachi had just said. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks, as she saw how right Itachi was. She buried her head in her hands with a groan.

"What am I going to do?!" she cried in frustration.

"Let her out, and fight her." Itachi said simply and stood up. "I will return two days from now. You will have her under control then." He demanded and took off running through the woods. She stared at the place he had been standing.

"Yeah right. Easier said than done." Ari grumbled and started working on dinner.

* * *

Itachi stopped a few miles away from Ari's camp. He sighed and sat under a large tree with a heavy thud.

He never thought much of the insolent, sometimes annoying, twig of a girl. She was strong, he couldn't argue that, but she always held herself back. She always let others do the hard work when things got tough. He was going to let her save herself this time.

Itachi closed his eyes and drifted off to a light, guarded sleep.

* * *

A/N: I have no classes tomorrow so I will be able to get another chapter or two tomorrow! Thank you to all my readers, keep up the reviews, they are literly the highlight of my day and make me all giddy.


	3. New Threat

Disclaimer: SEE OTHER DISCLAIMERS

Chapter 3

Fallen angels at my feet  
Whispered voices at my ear  
Death before my eyes  
Lying next to me I fear  
She beckons me  
Shall I give in  
Upon my end shall I begin  
Forsaking all I've fallen for  
I rise to meet the end- Whisper, Evanescence

* * *

Ari sat deep in concentration, the sun rising at her back and the sound of waking birds at her ear. Slowly she exhaled and pushed Anna out of her mind, to sit in front of her.

"So, you're ready to face me at last? Why don't we make this easy, if I win I get to be in control and you get forced in the shadows like I was." Anna smiled evilly at Ari.

"And if I win?" Ari asked calmly.

"Ha! IF you win, I will fuse with you and we shall become one again. Fair enough?" Anna laughed at the thought of Ari beating her.

"Deal." Ari said simply and raised her sword to strike Anna, but Anna blocked with her sword.

Anna lounged forward, pressing all her weight on her blade, making Ari strain. Ari held her ground and pushed her back, jumping as Anna tried to trip her with her foot. On and on they fought until Ari was soaking wet with sweat.

"Whats the matter Ari? Cant keep up?" Anna laughed.

"All my life, you were the strong one, the one I leaned on if things got tough. Now I know that it wasn't you at all, it was me. You ARE me!" Ari shouted and pushed Anna back with a sudden burst of strength, knocking Anna to the ground with Ari's blade at her throat.

"I win" Ari growled. Anna looked angry, she had never lost to Ari before.

"Fine." Anna said and then fizzled into Ari, becoming part of her.

Ari dropped to the ground in exhaustion. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Leader, I have made contact with Ari, she is still battling her personality, I gave her three days to defeat her." Itachi reported to The Leader in his flickering meditative state.

"Itachi, bring her back here immediately. There is a new problem arising that is challenging our main goal. I will make an address in person to all Akatsuki tomorrow. Make sure she is there." Leader commanded, with a hint of worry in his voice. Itachi bowed and disappeared.

He ran through the trees to Ari's campsite. When he got there he saw her lying on the ground. Her hair was a few shades darker than before and her chakra was so drained she didn't wake up when his chakra flared around her.

"Ari, wake up." He commanded. She stirred a little, opening her eyes.

"Itachi? Please don't tell me ive been lying here for three days." She whispered softly, and began to try and sit up.

"Leader wants us all at the base." He explained. "Have to completed your mission?"

"Yes, we are now one. Although I don't know what that's going to do to my personality." She laughed slightly. Itachi reached a hand down to her and she accepted it. She felt a wave of dizziness come over her as she stood and was still unsteady on her feet. She moved around her camp, packing up her things and placing them in her back pack.

"Okay, I'm ready." She said shakily. Itachi jumped into the nearest tree and led the way back to the base. Ari was able to keep up for a couple miles, but her exhaustion took over around the third mile. Her foot slipped and she fell. She closed her eyes waiting for the impact, but it never came. Itachi had grabbed her before she hit the ground and was jumping from tree to tree towards home. She blushed at the thought of him holding her, but then got mad for thinking she needed to be carried. She tried to raise her voice in protest but Itachi beat her to it.

"You are drained. Rest now and you can defend your honor later." He said, sounding slightly sarcastic. She glared at him before realizing that he was right. She closed her eyes and enjoyed all the work he was doing getting her back to base.

"Is she okay, yeah?" Deidara's voice woke her from a strange dream involving a hippo and a duck. She opened her eyes and yawned.

"Hi Deidara." She smiled. Itachi then dropped her on the grass outside of the base.

"Oww! Whatcha do that for?" she asked angrily, rubbing her sore butt.

"That was for snoring the entire way back." He responded and climbed the stairs to the base. Deidara helped her up and laughed.

"Snoring?"

"Oh shut up blondie." She smacked him lightly on the arm and they headed up the stairs after Itachi.

"So what did I miss?" Ari asked with a smile. Deidara frowned slightly.

"Well, we apparently have a new enemy, although Leader wont tell us whats going on until we are all here, yeah." Deidara said with a pout.

"Oh great, all we need is more people who want to kill us. What is with this dimension? Is every one really that hell bent on mayhem and murder?" she ranted to a now smiling Deidara.

"Down girl." He joked and she couldn't help but crack a smile.

He walked her to her room and told her that he would walk with her to the Leader's room tomorrow. She smiled and wished him a good night.

After a long hot shower and a good fifteen minute teeth brushing, she climbed into her warm bed and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"I have asked you all here because we now face a threat to our goal of collecting all of the demons. There is a new organization, a doomsday cult that is relasing demons from their containers and setting them loose in villages." The Leader's voice was grave as he spoke to his followers. "Three villages have been completely destroyed and the three demons are now loose. I have information that the Kyuubi vessel is next."

Itachi narrowed his eyes and Kisame growled slightly.

"What is the Kyuubi vessel?" Ari whispered to Deidara.

"Naruto Uzumaki, he is Itachi's brother's best friend. He is a shinobi of Leaf." Deidara clarified.

"The Order, that is what they call themselves, are scheduled to attack Leaf in two days. Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, and Ari, you five will be going to Leaf to warn them, and try to prevent the extraction. If possible, bring Uzumaki here. We want to rule the world, not see it destroyed. Do you understand your mission?" Leader asked the team.

"Yes Leader." The five chorused.

"Good. Everyone else, get to the villages of the other known vessles and warn them as well. This is not the time for Akatsuki to fight the hidden villages, we must destroy this threat first, am I clear?"

"Yes Leader." The whole assembly responded.

"Dismissed."

They all headed out the door and to their respective rooms to pack for their journeys.

"Well, good thing I didn't unpack." Ari grumbed quietly to Deidara on her way to her room. Deidara chuckled half heartedly. He was nervous, and that made Ari very nervous.

"What exactly is a Kyuubi?" Ari asked.

"A demon, a very ridiculously strong fox demon. He is Itachi and Kisame's demon to capture, yeah. They have had some major problems though, because that kid has a lot of strong friends, yeah." Deidara turned the corner and opened his bedroom door. "I'll come get you when I'm done, yeah." He smiled and she started walking down to her room.

* * *

A/N: Okay didn't want to rush the Order's entrance. I will hopefully get another chapter up today! Please read and Review!!!!

p.s- It took FOREVER to upload this. Fanfiction wouldnt let me for the last six hours so I will be getting you another chapter probably tomorrow.


	4. The Village Hidden in the Leaves

Disclaimer: READ OTHER DISCLAIMERS

Chapter 4

The world we knew

Won't come back

The time we've lost

Can't get back

The life we had

Won't be ours again- Never Too Late- Three Days Grace

* * *

"You can't beat me Teme!" Naruto said with a smirk.

"I've been you plenty of times before Dobe, I will do it again!" Sasuke launched into battle with his best friend.

"Are they ever going to be done with this pissing contest?" Sakura sighed.

"Oh now Sakura, its just like old times! You got to admit you missed this." Kakashi said over his Icha Icha book.

"Yeah I guess. But its all still very surreal, having Sasuke back." Sakura looked at her boys fondly. "But I sure do love watching them fight."

"I agree, its art. Fighting is the only thing that those idiots can express themselves with." Sai said, sketching the two in a fighting pose.

"I win Dobe." Sasuke said as he stood over Naruto with a grin.

"You cheated!" Naruto huffed and lifted himself off the ground. "Sakura- chan, don't you have to go to work?" Naruto looked over at a horrified Sakura.

"Oh no! I forgot, Tsunade is going to kill me." She said and ran towards the hospital.

"So Teme, you going to ask her out on a date soon?" Naruto said with a sly grin. Sasuke rolled his eyes but the other two men were listening carefully.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He responded.

"Oh come on now, we all know Sakura has been in love with you for years, when are you going to wake up and see that there is a beautiful woman in front of your face?" Naruto asked exasperated.

"Its not that simple Naruto. I left, we lost so much time. She deserves so much more than me. She should be with someone who will love her unconditionally, forever. I don't think that I could ever give her that." Sasuke said looking at the men. Kakashi nodded at the sincerity of his words. Sai looked at Sasuke as if he saw a new side of him to paint. Naruto just threw up his hands in frustration, and mumbled something about not pursuing love.

"Like your one to talk Dobe, Hinata has been looking at you with love in her eyes for years, why don't you ask HER out?" Sasuke glared at Naruto who looked as if he just learned the Earth was round.

"Hinata likes me?" Naruto asked disbelievingly.

All the men looked at Naruto and then rolled their eyes. Each of them walked past Naruto, smacking him on the head on the way past.

* * *

"How much longer to Leaf?" Ari asked no one in particular.

"Another couple of hours." Sasori said finally. Ari nodded her head and jumped to the next branch.

"So how exactly are we going to do this? March in and say, 'hey people, there is a crazy cult coming this way hell bent on destruction, just thought you should know.' Or do we have a better plan that no one feels on explaining to be?" Ari looked at Itachi in particular when she said this.

"We shall see what they think of our warning. Unfortunately they will probably think it is a trap, and fight us." Itachi said back, staring at the girl with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Sounds fun. Well then just tell me what to do General Itachi, Sir, Boss! I will be HAPPY to follow you into battle." She said sarcastically, raising her fist in the air for good measure. The others snickered quietly, but Itachi just glared at the insolent girl, who responded with a huge grin and a salute.

They reached the boarder of Leaf a few hours later. They drank water and ate a small lunch before heading into Leaf territory. They went about two miles in before being accosted by ANBU. There were two teams and they were armed and ready for a battle.

"We come in peace." Itachi said simply to one of the captains. "We wish to speak with your Hokage, now."

"Akatsuki never come in peace! You aren't getting anywhere near our Hokage." One of the other masked men exclaimed. The captain whom Itachi addressed held up a hand for silence.

"Boro, you and Finki go inform the Hokage that there are five Akatsuki outside of the village. That they say they come in peace and wish to speak with her." Two ANBU flew into the trees towards Leaf on his orders. The remaining ANBU took to a starting contest with the Akatsuki. Ari soon got bored of this a gave a great sigh.

"Beautiful summer we are having." She commented, trying to break the ice. The ANBU didn't move, or respond. She looked at Deidara who smiled down at her. "Well it is." She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama! There are five Akatsuki outside of the gates. They say they come in peace and want to speak to you." One of the two ANBU guards reported.

"Which Akatsuki are we talking about?" Tsunade asked hesitantly.

"Well, from learning their files, I am confident in saying, Deidara of Stone, Sasori of Sand, Kisame of Mist, Itachi of Leaf, and an unknown female."

"Bring Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, Kurenai, and Genma to me, tell them to meet me at the front gates. We are going to see what they want." Tsunade rose from her seat.

"But… do you think it wise?" the silent ANBU asked.

"Do you doubt my capiblities to defend this village?" she boomed angrily.

"No, Hokage-sama." He bowed his head in defeat.

"Then you are dismissed!" She shouted and headed out of her office to the front gates.

* * *

"Tsunade, what is going on?" Kakashi asked worriedly, for once in his life he was on time.

"We shall see soon enough." They all ran through the forrest, to the place the ANBU was holding the Akatsuki. When the black cloaks with red clouds came into view, the team stopped. Tsunade moved closer to the group standing in the clearing.

All the Akatsuki looked at the Hokage as she approached. The four men wore somber expressions. The girl, however, wore a small smile, as if to say, 'nice to meet you'. This unnerved Tsunade slightly, but she shrugged it off and looked to the leader of the group, the strongest, Itachi Uchiha.

"What do you want?" Tsunade asked, a little harshly.

"We came to warn you." Itachi said simply.

"Care to elaborate?" Tsunade growled.

"By now you have heard of the three villages destroyed by demons, just three days south of here?" Itachi continued. Tsunade merely nodded.

"The demons were released, not by us but by another organization."

"The Order, yeah I've heard. What is your point?" Itachi narrowed his eyes at her rudeness.

"We have information that the Kyuubi is next. We were sent to warn you, and stop The Order from releasing the demon." Itachi concluded looking at Ari suddenly. "We wish to leave one of our own among you, Ari is a strong, capable ninja and she will be able to protect the Kyuubi." Ari looked at Itachi like he lost his mind.

"We don't need Akatsuki to protect us. If what you say is correct, we will have our own guard to protect Naruto." She said loudly.

"She is not a missing nin, nor has she ever done anything that would cause her to be a threat to your village. If you will not let her in to guard the Kyuubi, then we will stay right here. I'm sure your villagers would be pleased to know that they have Akatsuki at their gates, and I know you don't want to risk shinobi to fight us being there is a threat of attack from another organization, so think about this carefully Hokage." Itachi responded clearly and diplomatically. Tsunade growled at the ultimatum. She tuned to the Jonin behind her for counsel.

"What do you think?" she whispered to Kakashi.

"He does have a point, if we attack Akatsuki, who knows how many Itachi himself will take down. Deidara nearly took out an entire village, Kisame and Sasori are both very deadly, and we don't know what that girl can do yet. I think we should let the girl in, guard her heavily and see what happens with The Order." Kakashi said seriously, and the other Jonin nodded their heads in agreement.

Tsunade sighed. "Your right." She grumbled and turned back to the Akatsuki.

"We accept your conditions. But you must remain on the boarder of Leaf, and no closer. Also your girl must abide by the laws of this village and if she does brake the law, she will be executed. Do you agree to these terms?"

"We will remain at the boarder and not come any closer unless called upon by either your village or the girl. She will follow your laws, and is subject to punishment as a shinobi, not a terrorist, if found guilty of a crime." Itachi amended. Tsunade narrowed her eyes and reluctantly nodded.

Ari couldn't believe what had transpired. She was going to Leaf to protect someone she didn't know, from a bunch of people who could probably turn her into a pile of dust. She sighed deeply and said her goodbyes to her companions.

"You still have the bird, yeah?" Deidara asked, looking over at the Leaf untrustingly. Ari nodded and patted her pack lightly. She smiled at her friend and launched into his arms for a big bear hug, which surprised the Leaf shinobi and the Hokage. Deidara laughed slightly and hugged her back.

"See you soon." She waved to the Akatsuki as they headed back to the boarder of Leaf. She sighed and turned to the Hokage. "Arianna Williams." She greeted with a smile and a bow. Tsunade gave a weak smile back and told her to follow closely. Ari nodded and adjusted her pack on her back as they headed towards Leaf.

* * *

A/N: A new side of Ari is comming out. She can finally start to grow now that Anna is dealt with... OR IS SHE? dum dum DUM!!! Please read and review!!!


	5. The Siren in the Night

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Chapter 5

Ari walked into the gates of Leaf and looked around in wonder. This was the most beautiful village she had ever seen. Kakashi noticed the bright look in her face and fell back to talk to her.

"You aren't like the others are you?" he said offhandedly. She cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Well, I am Akatsuki, in that respect we are the same. But if you mean I am not outwardly cold and kill people, then no, I'm not like them." She smiled warmly at Kakashi.

"I am Kakashi." He greeted at last.

"Oh I know, Itachi told me all about you. Is it true you have the Sharingan?" her eyes moved to the covered patch over his left eye.

"Yes, a gift from an old friend." He said somewhat sadly. She got the hint and changed the subject.

"This village is so… perfect. I can see why Leader sent us to protect it." She said still looking around.

"Akatsuki aren't exactly known for their protection, only destruction." Kakashi pointed out.

"Would you want to accept that your enemy is human, and could want to protect someone or something? Just by meeting me your view is changing. In your heart, in all of your hearts," she motioned to the village, "you want to believe that there is only good and evil. But I don't think that it is that simple. There is always a grey side, where things change so fast, people can't, or wont keep up. Why do you think there is so much war in the world Kakashi? We get stuck on our impressions and views of what is right, that anyone who have a different outlook is considered wrong, dangerous, the enemy. Akatsuki is doing what any normal people do, grow, change, and learn. Will you follow in our example?" She looked at Kakashi, willing him to answer. He looked back with a new view on the girl and smiled.

"You're a wise little one aren't you?" he responded.

"For goodness sakes! I'm not little!" she laughed, which caused the other shinobi, who were listening to the conversation, to turn to look at her. Kakashi was shaken by her melodic laugh. It had been a long time since he heard a laugh like that, so filled with hope and innocence.

"Kakashi." Tsunade called. Kakashi excused himself and went to speak with the Hokage.

"Yes Tsunade?" he asked quietly.

"I want your team to watch her, camp in one of the training grounds, and keep her with you guys. I will excuse Sakura from her hospital duties, and I want Sasuke with you as well. He has met her before." She motioned to the girl, who was smiling at passing people.

"Yes Hokage-sama." He bowed and returned to walk with the girl.

* * *

They were setting up their small camp in the far end of the Genin training field, Sakura, and Naruto set up small tents. Sasuke, Kakashi and Ari choose to sleep under the stars, while Sai set up a hammock in a tree.

"Should we trust her Kakashi- sensei?" Naruto whispered conspiratorially to Kakashi.

"We should remain guarded, but my instinct tells me she means us no harm." He answered. Sasuke walked over to Ari, who was braiding her hair absently while looking at the bright stars. She looked at him and smiled as he lay down beside her.

"The stars are amazing here!" she gasped in wonder. Sasuke smirked, but didn't answer.

"Are you glad to be home Sasuke?" he asked suddenly.

"Hn." He replied, which caused Ari to giggle. He looked over at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry, its just, that is the exact answer Itachi gives me when I ask him something once."

"Once?" he looked back to the stars.

"Yeah, about the fourth or fifth time I ask him, he usually gives me more than a one word answer." She smiled.

"I can't imagine Itachi would have patience for someone like you." He glanced at the girl.

"Oh he doesn't!" she laughed. "He usually looses his temper and knocks me out. I can't imagine you would have patience for someone like Naruto." She retorted. The looked over at the blonde who was bugging Sakura for money to buy ramen.

"I don't, usually I just knock him out as well." He responded with a smile, and stood up gracefully. "Sleep well."

"You too Sasuke." She laughed and laid her head back down to study the cosmos.

About an hour later, Ari was woken from her sleep by a strange sound. Singing. She looked up and saw Naruto walking away from the camp, in a trance. Silently Ari got up and started following him. The sound started getting louder, it sounded familiar, like she should know what it was.

There standing in the clearing was a woman, her green hair was flowing around her and she was naked. Her red eyes were fixed on Naruto and her mouth was forming the sweet/ sad song that was flowing around them. Ari's blood ran cold, she knew what it was. A Siren.

"Naruto!" she screamed and raised her sword. She lounged at the woman, who stopped singing in fright. Naturo shook his head and looked around.

"Ari-chan, what is going on?" he whispered sleepily. He looked at the green haired girl who was now baring her fangs at the pair of them. Ari stood in front of Naruto with her sword raised.

"Stay behind me Naruto." She commanded. "You are not going to get him Siren." She growled. The water demon snarled and moved to attack. A single kunai stopped her progress and she looked up to see Kakashi, Sasuke, Sai, and Sakura standing a few feet away, ready to attack.

"You have not won anything, Music Muse." The Siren screeched and disappeared into a cloud of smoke that moved out of the city.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked finally. All of them looked to Ari.

"A Siren, although I don't think that she was the real thing, only an image of one." Seeing the blank stares around her, she continued. "Sirens were women who lured sailors to jump off of ships, so that they could eat them. They took the shape of a beautiful woman, and sang an unearthly song that mesmerized the sailor to jump to their death. They are found in Greek mythology. Why I said that she is probably not the real thing, is the fact that Sirens live in the ocean, they can't come onto land. This is probably one of The Order's tricks." She sheathed her sword and turned to Naruto. "Are you okay?" she asked with a smile.

He wrapped his arms around her in a big bear hug and nodded.

"Thank you Ari-chan! You saved my life!" she patted him awkwardly on the back until he released her.

"What is a Music Muse?" Sakura asked. Ari narrowed her eyes and looked down.

"Me." She said simply and started her way back to camp.

She laid her head down and gazed back to the stars. Kakashi spoke with Sai briefly who ran towards the Hokage Tower. Sakura and Sasuke were in deep conversation, and Naruto was moving his sleeping bag right next to her.

"Just in case." He clarified, as she looked at him with her eye brows raised. She smiled slightly and fell asleep with the warmth of Naruto at her side.

Tsunade slammed her fist against the wall. They almost got him, and who was there to save him, an Akatsuki. Sai left respectfully while Tsunade thought deep on the situation. If The Order released the Kyuubi, there would be no one save from the destruction. But she wouldn't let Naruto be killed by the Akatsuki either. She would need to speak with Itachi again; she needed to keep her village safe.

* * *

A/N: I know right now I am causing more questions than answers, but trust the force! All will be revealed. 


	6. Three Faces of Death

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Chapter 6

Tsunade walked calmly through the woods, the morning sun at her back. She was alone, but she was on her own mission. She sensed the four Akatsuki a little ways ahead and quickened her pace.

Itachi looked up from where he was sitting, to see the Hokage of Leaf coming towards him. The others stiffened and stopped what they were doing, but Tsunade kept her eyes on the Uchiha, and he on her. She stopped in front of him and sat down Indian style.

"Can I help you Hokage?" Itachi asked calmly, looking her in the eye. She narrowed hers and stared back.

"The Order almost got the Kyuubi last night. It was your girl who stopped the agent."

"Perhaps it is a good thing that I insisted she go and protect him then."

"Itachi, is there anyway the Kyuubi could be extracted without killing the container?" Tsunade asked, with pleading in her voice.

"Perhaps." Their staring contest continued.

"I am willing to give you the Kyuubi only if it is extracted without killing Naruto."

"We will see what can be done Hokage. I think it is best you return to your village now, the Hokage shouldn't be wondering in the woods alone with enemy so near." Tsunade stared hard.

"Would you kill me now Itachi?" she stood gracefully, and he followed suit.

"I never said that I was the enemy you should be afraid of. Your distrust will be your downfall if you let it be." He finished and turned his back on the Hokage. She nodded, taking in the full value of his words and left at a run for the village.

* * *

"You'll LOVE this Ari-chan!" Naruto dragged the dark haired girl to the ramen shop. She laughed at the strange blond boy's antics. He ordered two bowls of his favorite ramen and handed her a pair of evil chopsticks. She took them and sighed.

"Is everything ok Ari-chan?" Naruto asked in between bites. She smiled and shook her head, forcing herself to eat with the eating utensils of doom. After a few experimental bites, she found she actually liked Naruto's ramen.

"So Ari-chan, where are you from?" Naruto asked with a full mouth.

"It's kind of hard to explain. I'm not a missing nin, because I am not from here at all." She looked at the now confused guy. "It's hard to explain." She looked back to her bowl and resumed eating. She was exhausted from watching over the camp all night. She use up almost all of her chakra by extending her senses until dawn.

"I didn't get much sleep last night, I think I am going to take a nap. Will you be okay?" Ari rose from her stool, feeling slightly dizzy. Naruto nodded and offered to walk her back to camp. She declined and headed back to the training ground. She passed Sakura on the way, who stopped when she saw the Akatsuki girl's pale clammy complexion.

"Are you alright?" Sakura grabbed Ari by the arm gently. Ari nodded.

"Yeah, just need some sleep. Hey can you keep an eye on Naruto for me. If anything happens, just flare up your chakra okay?" Sakura didn't look convinced but nodded and let Ari go.

Ari laid down in her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. Soon a light sleep overcame her.

* * *

_The air was filled with smoke and the smell of burning flesh. Naruto laid a few feet away, not moving. Sakura was sobbing on top of him, pleading with him not to go. Sakura looked up at Ari, her eyes wide in fear. Ari turned around slowly, and behind her was the Kyuubi. _

"_You can't escape me, I am so hungry." It growled, showing its long sharp fangs. She screamed when she felt pressure on her chest._

* * *

"Ari, wake up! It's just a dream." She opened her eyes to see Naruto leaning over her, shaking her by the shoulders. Ari sat up, covered in sweat and looked around, expecting the town in ruins. When she realized it was only a dream, she buried her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Naruto was still worried, the girl was screaming her head off when he cam into the camp.

"Yeah, it was just a bad dream. Thank you for waking me Naruto." She smiled weakly and stood up out of her sleeping bag. "I think it would be best if we are not separated okay?" she said, adjusting her clothes.

"Yeah sure." He agreed and scratched the back of his head.

* * *

It was half past eight in the night when the second attempt to get Naruto occurred. This time it was three cloaked men, with skull like masks on. Ari had sensed them coming into the village and promptly alerted the others.

"We've come for the Kyuubi." One of the masked men said in a deep, morose voice.

"Yeah, because we are just going to give him to you. Get lost you melodramatic freaks." Ari said confidently.

"We will have him, you can not stop us Music Muse. We are death itself." The second man said, with the same strange voice. Ari raised her eyebrows and looked at Kakashi, who met her eye and shrugged.

"On the next full moon, the Kyuubi will be released. You will not get in our way Music Muse." The third said with the same voice as the other two. All three looked up to the sky and fell to ash.

"Okay, is it just me or are these Order guys really creepy?" Sakura asked, breaking the silence. Ari stared at the three piles of dust.

"They are not human, not a single one of them." Ari said at last. "I just feel it. Look I need to speak with the others about all this. I am way out of my league here. I will be back at sunrise okay?" she didn't wait for an answer, before she raced out of Leaf to where her companions were waiting.

"And then they just turn to ash. I've never seen anything like this in my life, what do you think Itachi?" Ari was sitting in a circle with her fellow Akatuski. He looked into her eyes and then to the others.

"I've never heard of anything like this before. I think it is about time I inform the Leader. You stay there." He looked at Ari strongly. She nodded and moved closer to Deidara.

* * *

"Leader, Ari has interesting news about The Order." Itachi flickered before the Leader. The Leader listened to Itachi's report intensely, especially his request for an extraction jutsu that does not kill the container.

"There is such a jutsu, but it would take all five of you with full chakra to perform. Without chakra, you would be at the mercy of Leaf. Think carefully before attempting it Itachi. As for The Order, they seem to have a connection to Ari, use it. Look for faults in their fighting, and use it against them. It is up to you five, the others are fighting the released demons, so I can not send more Akatsuki to you. Do not fail me." Itachi bowed and flickered out of the Leader's chambers.

"Well?" Ari asked when Itachi opened his eyes.

"I need to speak with the Hokage. Ari, return to the Kyuubi's side, I will contact you soon. The rest of you, prepare for the full moon." Itachi stood and headed towards Leaf.

Ari narrowed her eyes at Itachi's lack of explanation, but did as she was told and returned to Naruto.

* * *

"Hokage, it is time we made a deal." Itachi said through the darkness, his Sharingan blazing. Tsunade took a step back, but noticed no malice in his words.

"Tell me." She said and sat down to hear Itachi explain.

* * *

A/N: Two in one day, I am on a roll! At this rate, this story will be ALOT longer than the last. Oh well more fun around every corner. Much much more in the next chapter. Please read and review!! 


	7. Extraction

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Chapter 7

The village of Leaf was in an uproar. The Hokage and willingly allowed five Akatsuki to come into the village. Moat of the shinobi were insulted that Tsunade didn't trust them to protect Leaf, and the civilians were nervous at the thought of s-class criminals walking around their nice home. What ever the village thought of Tsunade's actions, they mostly kept it to themselves though. No one openly protests the Hokage, to do so could cause a civil war, and NO ONE wanted that to happen, ever. Tsunade held her hand up for silence, and the murmurs of the village quieted at the Hokage's request.

"People of Leaf, I stand before you, not only as your leader, but as your friend, family, and fellow villager. There is a threat to our village that hasn't darken our doorways since the time of the fourth Hokage. I want to be honest with you all, because I believe you all to be good, responsible people, and after you hear what I am about to say, you may change your minds about some things." She paused, taking a deep breath and looking over to the Akatsuki, who were standing in a line facing the people.

"We have an unknown enemy, a cult calling themselves The Order has been releasing demons on villages. We don't know their true intentions, or if they just want the end of existence. The Order has set its sights on the Kyuubi, who rests in one of our own in this village." The crowed started whispering excitedly, and pointing to Naruto who was looking very uncomfortable.

"We must prevent The Order from extracting the Kyuubi, and that is why I've made an agreement with the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki have come here to defend our village from this threat, not because they are our allies, but rather the enemy we fight is their enemy as well. The extraction process normally kills the container, but there is an alternative method. For this, the Akatsuki would have to use all their chakra to contain the demon, while keeping the container alive. It is not used because of the impracticality of it. When there is always a chance of attack, why use all of your chakra? I've agreed to let the Akatsuki perform the alternant extraction process, under the condition that we offer shelter and protection to them until they regain their chakra." The murmers of protest raised.

"We cant trust the Akatsuki!" "Kill them while we have the chance!" "We can beat the Order." The civilians called out. The Shinobi, however, remained silent. They realized that this was the best advantage they could get. The Order is still unknown and if they are as strong as what they hear from their neighboring villages, the Kyuubi could be released when there is a distraction of a battle. With the Akatsuki on their side, they would be able to stand a better chance, as well as rid the village of the threat of the Kyuubi forever.

Tsunade looked at the shinobi gathered before her and they all bowed in unison. They agreed and would follow their Hokage. The civilians noticed what was going on and slowly stopped their protests.

"The Order are expected to arrive on the next full moon, which is two days from now. The procedure will be preformed tonight, with the agreement of the Akatsuki, that they would stay and fight The Order along side us." She looked over to Itachi, who met her eye and nodded solemnly.

"All teams will report to my office for battle instructions at the scheduled times listed at the bottom of Hokage tower. Please refrain from antagonizing the Akatsuki, they are our temporary allies, like it or not, and shall be treated as such." Tsunade stepped down from the podium she was standing on and headed back to her office with a few teams speaking with her on her way. The villagers looked at the Akatsuki with a mixture of awe and distrust. Most of them had never seen an S-class criminal up close and personal and most of the children were itching to run up and touch their cloaks.

"Now what?" Ari said quietly from the corner of her mouth to Itachi.

"We wait." He said equally as quietly.

* * *

"Naruto, this process is going to be very dangerous, and painful. It will take four of us to remove the Kyuubi, and one to keep you alive with their own chakra." Itachi stood in front of Naruto, explaining what was going to happen. Naruto gulped and nodded his head. Sakura and Sasuke were standing behind him. There was no way they would leave their friend to face this alone.

"Pink haired girl." Itachi addressed. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Its Sakura." She said firmly. Itachi nodded and motioned to sit next to Ari. Sakura complied and sat stiffly next to the Akatsuki girl. They were now in a circle around Naruto. Sasuke stayed out of the circle and in the far back of the room.

Itachi sat in front of Naruto, with Ari on his right and Kisame on his left. Sasori next to Kisame, and Deidara next to Sakura.

"Your job, Sakura, will be to assist Ari in keeping Naruto's body functioning. It is her job to keep him alive with her chakra, and because you are a medic, it would be wise for you to focus her chakra into his body." Sakura nodded.

"Naruto, lie down on your back and relax. Don't try to fight us if you can." Itachi said calmly. He laid down and Ari put her left hand over his heart and motioned for Sakura to place her hand on top of hers. The process began, the holding container they were placing the Kyuubi in was a rough uncut diamond the size of a fist. Itachi told everyone that because the diamonds were so strong, they could keep a demon locked inside for several years. The Diamond was placed at Naruto's feet and the four Akatsuki began to chant in an old strange language. Ari pushed her chakra into Naruto, stabilizing his body, which now felt like fire. Sakura channeled Ari's charka into Naruto's heart and other organs to prevent them from failing.

Nobody mentioned to Ari, that she would be the one to hurt as much as Naruto. Itachi grabbed Ari's free hand and thrust the diamond in it. They were going to pull the demon from Naruto into Ari and to the diamond! She choked back the pain and focused on pushing all of her chakra into Naruto. She ground her teeth together and clenched her eyes shut, but kept doing her job. She felt the demon being pulled through her hand, up her arm, into her chest, and out of her other arm and hand. Her body felt like it was about to explode and when Itachi finished the last words, Ari stopped breathing.

"Come on Ari, breathe!" she heard Sakura's voice above her, but it felt so far away. She couldn't feel pain, just a numb cold sensation. It was then she heard his voice.

"Your mission is not complete yet, come back to us." He said, and she opened her eyes.

The others were startled when Ari began gasping for air. She was content to die, she accepted it. It was his voice that called her back. The one person she would never have expected to call her back. Itachi.

"She is going to be okay." Sakura said with a small tired smile. The process had not drained her as it had the others. The four Akatsuki looked exhausted and desperately needed rest. Naruto was sleeping the effects of having a demon ripped out of his soul. Ari sat up slowly only to be pushed back down by Itachi.

"Rest, you deserve it." He said, and she did just that.

* * *

A/N: There will be another chapter comming up. The big fight will begin soon! Please please please! Read and Review!! Thank you to all my readers, you guys are the brothers and sisters ive never had! 


	8. Her Story

DISCLAIMER: READ OTHER DISCLAIMERS

Chapter 8

The five Akatsuki sat in the sitting room of the hotel they were staying in. It had been six hours since the extraction had happened, but they were all still drained.

"I think I want to tell you guys my story." Ari said simply, but in those words she gained the attention of all four men. They had agreed to let Ari be and not ask her for information until she was ready to tell them. The near death experience had made Ari realize that she wanted to tell the ones close to her, why she was the way she was. She trusted them with her life, and was ready to tell her story.

"My mother was a professional dancer, working for a ballet company out of New York City. New York is a huge city, full of strange people and lots of artists. She was the prima ballerina for several years. It was while she was on stage, she met my father. Dad was a pianist for the New York symphony, and probably the best pianist that ever has been in New York. They met through a mutual friend and fell deeply in love. They were so in love that they married only after a month after they first started dating. One day mother was dancing, rehearsing for a new show when she fell off the stage. She broke her leg, and her career was ended. Dad didn't care though; he quit the symphony and moved him and mom to a small town in northern Ohio, Winstead. Soon after, mom found out she was pregnant with me, and they were so happy." She paused, clearing her throat before she continued. "Soon after I was born they noticed that I was not like them. I was unusually bright for a baby, and was walking and talking far before normal children my age. My parents just thought that I was a genius, and looked forward to the future, to see what I would be capable of. They found out when I was three.

I was playing with my dolls when I first thought to play with daddy's piano. I climbed up on the stool and ran my fingers over the smooth keys. I started pressing on the keys, making no normal sound at first, but then it slowly became a song, a very complex song. Mom thought Dad had come home early and went to greet him, she saw me playing and knew at once that I was more than a baby. She told my dad that she thought I was like Mozart, a child prodigy, a music genius. Dad wasn't too sure, but he agreed to help me with my music. By the time I was six, I surpassed my father and I was going on to win national and international piano competitions. It was then, my dad started drinking, and my mom became depressed." Tears started pooling in Ari's eyes. "I offered to stop playing, to be a normal kid, but my mom would have none of it. She said it was my duty to show the world my gift." She laughed bitterly. "It was really my curse. On my seventh birthday, I was getting ready for a recital, my dad was nowhere to be seen, but mom promised that he would come later. We took a cab to the competition and I began my piece. I looked up after I played my last note, and saw my father in the back of the auditorium. He smiled weakly at me and waved for me to come over to him. I was so happy he came; I jumped up from the piano stand, through the clapping crowd and into my father's arms." She paused. "He was drunk. Very, very drunk and he told me to get my mother and meet him by the car. I told mom that he was outside, and he was waiting for us. She started yelling at him for being drunk at his daughter's recital, and he grabbed her and me and threw us in the car. I started crying and my mom pleaded with him to not drive, but he wouldn't listen. He smacked my mom in the face, and screamed at me for being a freak, for being a bad girl." She willed herself to stop crying and be strong. "They didn't notice that I didn't put my seatbelt on. My mom buckled hers, and my dad managed to get his on between screaming at my mom for being a whore and creating a monster. He didn't see the stop sign, he didn't see the school bus full of the high school football players. I screamed, mom screamed, dad laughed and we hit the bus with so much force, I was ejected from the car and into the road. The bus and my parent's car went over the cliff. No one survived, but me. I only had a broken arm, and a few scratches. My parents, sixteen football players, two coaches, and a bus driver were killed, and the whole town blamed me. I became an orphan, an unwanted one, and I changed. I wasn't my parent's Ane anymore, my curly blonde hair turned into straight light brown hair, my blue eyes turned a strange shade of violet, and I became Ari. I never understood why I changed, or even how, but when I was fighting Anna, I realized that Ane died with my parents. The innocent, girl with a strange power for playing the piano became a sad girl who was hated by most of the people around her.

There were times when people would try and hurt me, but I would be able to push them away with so much force, I would hurt them. The kids learned not to pick on my when I broke one girl's shoulder from pushing her." She looked up to her friends. "And that is my story."

For a few minutes the others were quiet, trying to absorb what she had told them.

"Your villagers were fools, you were just a child." Sasori said at last. Kisame nodded his head in agreement.

"Your father was wrong; you are not a monster, yeah." Deidara moved closer to her, squeezing her hand comfortingly. Itachi remained silent, although his eyes looked at her softer than usual.

She dried her tears and smiled warmly at her companions.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get ready for battle soldiers." She smiled and saluted her companions who smiled at her.

* * *

They regained at least most of their chakra in peace, and cleaned their weapons. The night of the full moon had come, and the civilians were sent into hiding, while the Akatsuki and the Leaf shinobi stood at arms at the gates.

Thirty masked Order ninja were advancing slowly, in the lead was the Siren. They brought with them a blanket of silence that stretched through the forest. Every cricket, every frog, every owl became silent, and the Order was moving as one. It was as if they were all one person, split and divided several times. They stopped at the gates, the Shinobi and Akatsuki moved forward to meet them.

"Give us the Kyuubi." The siren hissed.

"Never." Ari growled. And the battle was on.

* * *

A/N: short chapter, but a lot to digest. I will update sometime tomorrow if I can! Please read and review, it makes me a happy writer, and happy writers move chapters out more quickly. 


	9. The Fight

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Chapter 9

The siren chose to fight Ari, and Ari wouldn't have it any other way. The siren screamed her unearthly scream, and forced Ari to her knees, giving her time to reach for a kunai. Weapon after weapon Ari threw, forcing the siren's scream to subside. Ari drew her blade and the siren drew a crude sword made from corral and stone. Ari faked a blow left and kicked out to connect with the siren's knee. She twisted back and sliced into the siren's side shallowly. Now deeply angered, the siren put on the offensive, slicing through the air, barely missing her target every time. Ari dodged a strike and fell to the ground. She laid on her back while the siren advanced, she brought her corral sword up and thrust it down towards Ari. Ari smirked and brought her sword up through the siren's ribcage. The siren howled with fury, still trying to fight the girl until her efforts ceased and the siren moved no more.

The others were having more of a tough time than she was though. The masked Order members could be sliced, kicked, and even have body parts chopped off and they would still fight.

"What are these things?" Naruto screamed, fighting off an armless Order nin.

"The undead." Kakashi responded pushing his to the ground with twenty five stab marks in its cloaked back. The thing just got back up and started fighting again. The Leaf nin as well as the Akatsuki were starting to grew tired. The Order Zombies would not stop. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Itachi fall. The eight zombies he was fighting had found a weak point in his fighting and had stabbed him in the stomach.

"Itachi!" she screamed and ran over to where he lay on the ground. She lifted his head onto her lap and pressed her hands into his wound.

"Leave me, you still have chakra, fight them." Itachi ordered, his voice strangely weak. Ari shook her head with tears in her eyes. She was not going to leave him. Even though he was never nice to her, never helped her or offered a kind word, Ari still saw him as a comrade, and she would not leave a fallen comrade. She pressed her forehead onto his and started gently singing a song, the first song that came to her. An old song her mother used to sing to get her to sleep.

_There was a boy, A very strange enchanted boy._

_They say he wandered very far, very far, over land and sea._

_A little shy, and sad of eye _

_But very wise was he, and then one day_

_One magic day, he passed my way_

_And while we spoke of many things_

_Fools and kings, this he said to me_

_The greatest thing, you'll ever learn_

_Is just to love, and be loved in return._

Ari sang this as quietly as she thought she could, but what she didn't realize, was that she wasn't singing quietly at all. The song echoed through the darkness, immobilizing the zombies, and stunning the shinobi. Seeing an opportunity to strike, the Leaf shinobi and other Akatsuki began to decapitate the zombies, letting their now still corpses hit the ground. They looked over to the still singing girl and noticed a bright white light surrounding her and Itachi.

"Your mission is not yet over, come back." She whispered softly. He opened his eyes and felt no pain, the wound had healed and he had been called back from death. She smiled warmly at him and helped him up. Itachi looked around and saw the Order Zombies were all dead, and most of the Leaf shinobi were mostly okay. Itachi looked at the girl and ran a hand through her now curly hair.

"Guess Ane isn't dead after all." He noted. Ari smiled and shook her head.

"Mom was right; I do have something special to offer with my music. I can bring people back from the dead, and kill zombies. There is a bit of parallelism there, don't you think?" she smiled, and Itachi smirked at the strange woman.

"Hn."

* * *

"You have saved our village from complete distruction, and gave us great aid in destroying an enemy. Thank you. Arianna, you are welcome in this village when ever you want." Tsunade bowed slightly to the girl and gave a cold, but respectful nod to the other Akatsuki. Naruto enveloped her into a bear hug and thanked her for saving him in his loud voice. Sakura smiled and bowed and Sasuke gave his signature smirk.

"Not bad." He said and she smiled back.

"Not bad yourself." She turned away from the village, sparing one last glance and a sigh.

"Lets go home guys." She jumped into a tree and away they went.

* * *

A/N: Very short chapter, but I wanted to introduce The Order's basic fighters, and get the Akatsuki the hell out of Leaf. I will try to get another chapter out tonight, but if I cant then it will be tomorrow. Please R&R it makes me smile!

P.S. I don't own that song, I heard it a couple places and read it before and I loved it.


	10. Dance, Dance

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Chapter 10

"The Order has been setting more demons loose on villages, they can apparently be stopped by singing to them." Leader was addressing his followers who were looking around uncomfortably. The Akatsuki were strong, seemingly heartless, killers, and none of them were very comfortable with the idea of singing a lullaby to zombies. Singing never before had been used to strike fear in the hearts of wrong doers, and it seemed to most of them that if they started singing to a zombie, they would loose their 'everyone fear me' edge.

"You will be in partners for these missions, so choose wisely." Almost all of the Akatsuki looked over at Ari, silently begging to be her partner so they would be spared the singing nonsense. But it was Itachi who placed a hand on her shoulder, claiming her as his partner, and daring anyone else to try and change that. The others looked slightly crestfallen, well as much as they could in their emotionless mask faces.

"Do not return here until all of The Order has been destroyed and the leader's head is sitting on a silver platter at my feet. Dismissed."

"I think we should start in Stone, what do you think Itachi?" Ari tilted her head towards her new partner.

"Hn." He responded.

"Wonderful! So have you thought of what song you're going to sing to the legions of the undead?" Ari suppressed a smile as she looked at Itachi.

"You will be doing the singing." Itachi stated coldly.

"Wait, wait, wait! I sang the last time. I do believe it is your turn." She broke into a grin, and he smirked down at her.

"I do not sing. Ever." He said lightly, which caused Ari to break out in giggles.

"Okay Mr. Macho Man, I'll sing. You know, before you chased all the others off with your 'stare of doom', I was feeling pretty popular." They walked to Ari's room so she could pack.

"I will not allow those mongrels to get you killed. You are too valuable in destroying The Order." He moved to sit next to her desk.

"Get me killed? Well it's nice to know that you trust me to be able to defend myself Itachi." She huffed, shoving her clean clothes into her pack.

"Don't act like a woman Ari." Itachi said shortly.

"I AM a woman Itachi, in case you haven't noticed." He picked up a discarded pink lacy underwear and threw it on the bed, causing her to blush.

"I've noticed. It doesn't mean you have to act like a brat." Itachi stood and moved to the door. "Meet me in the front in ten minutes." He said and walked out.

"Jerk." She mumbled and resumed packing.

* * *

"We are going to a small village outside of Stone, we'll travel with you. We need to stop in Stone for the night anyway, yeah." Deidara adjusted his pack and looked up to see Itachi coming down the stairs.

"Oh, look. It's MY partner." Ari deadpanned and turned her attention back to Deidara and Kisame, who both laughed.

"I assume you are going to the village of Limestone?" Itachi directed his question to his usual partner.

"Yup, they have a great pub in Stone though. We should get information out of the drunks there." Kisame shifted his large sword on his back.

"You just want to get drunk yourself, yeah." Deidara laughed.

"Nothing wrong with that. You up for a drink or two girly?" Kisame hit Ari lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh, I'm not old enough to drink." She stated sweetly. The three men looked at her strangely.

"You are Akatsuki, you can do whatever you want, yeah." Deidara looked at her with raised eyebrows. "You are eighteen as well, yeah."

Ari took a moment to process this and laughed at her foolishness.

"Yeah I guess your right! Lets go and dance on some tables, oh and when you guys are really drunk, you can rehearse the songs you are going to sing in front of the whole bar." She smiled sarcastically, which drew a blank stare from Kisame and a laugh from Deidara.

"You better have been joking." Mumbled Kisame as they started running to Stone.

* * *

"This town gives me the creeps!" she looked around to the creepy men staring at her, and moved closer to her partner. A move that did not go unnoticed by said partner.

"You could kill them all with your hands behind your back, do not show them fear." Itachi whispered calmly. This sobered Ari up a bit and she raised her head a bit higher. They walked into a shady looking hotel and asked for four rooms.

"Don't have four, have two. Two beds in each, good?" a greasy man with a heavy accent was there to check them in. Itachi nodded to the man and placed several bills on the counter.

"Well this is a lot better than the last hotel room we were in." Ari said as soon as they walked into the crappy room. The curtains were ripped and the sheets were covered in dust. Itachi nodded in agreement and set his bag down on one of the beds.

"I'm glad we are going out on the town for once." Ari plopped on the bed, looking to the stained ceiling. "I brought just the thing to wear."

"Hn. Be ready by eight." He said and moved to the door. "I am going to scout the town." He explained and walked out to leave Ari to get ready.

"Oh, I only have an hour!" she exclaimed and rushed into the bathroom.

* * *

"Is she coming or what, yeah?" Deidara said shifting his weight impatiently.

"She said something about wanting to look like someone people would want to give information to." Kisame mumbled and looked at the clock.

"She told you that?" Deidara looked at Kisame stunned.

"Yeah, when we were checking in. I told her to look hot." Deidara rolled his eyes and looked to the staircase where Ari was slowly descending.

She was wearing a silk black dress that went mid thigh, and was v-neck. She had her long curly dark hair down and a touch of makeup on her eyes. She replaced her boots with flat sandals, and she was wearing silver earrings and bracelets.

"Well, how do I look." She smirked seductively at her companions.

"Hot." Kisame said simply. Deidara glared at him slightly and returned his gaze to the woman in front of him

"Beautiful, a living piece of art, yeah." He said finally. She looked at Itachi who merely nodded his consent and they were off to the local bar.

They chose a seat in the back, where they could hear all, and be seen less. Ari however wanted no part of just sitting in the back corner. This was the first time she had ever dressed so provocatively, and she was going to have as much fun as she could.

"Anyone care to dance?" she asked hopefully.

"Not drunk enough." Kisame downed a glass of sake.

"Cant dance." Deidara followed Kisame's lead and drank his glass. She looked at Itachi, with the barest flicker of a hope.

"Itachi?" she asked cautiously. He turned his head away and took a small sip of his sake.

"Fine! I'll go dance by myself, maybe I'll get some info while I'm doing it." She huffed and walked away from the table to the small dance floor where a few couples were dancing to an upbeat song.

Ari swayed her hips and moved to the beat. She raised her arms over her head, and soon got the attention of most of the men in the bar. One brave soul sauntered over to Ari and began dancing with her. She smiled at him and let him put his hands on her hips. They moved closer and he whispered something in her ear that made her laugh.

Meanwhile, in the back table, the three Akatsuki were starting at the man hard. If looks could kill, that man wouldn't have had a snowball's chance in hell. Ari noticed this as well and moved closer to the man, determined to get some information out of him before Deidara or Kisame killed him for touching her. She whispered something softly in his ear and he nodded solemnly. She put her best, 'I am just a little girl' face on and asked him what he knew, softly humming along to the song. He heard her song and told her everything he knew. She stopped humming and thanked him, leaving a lingering touch on his chest before going over to the back table.

"There was a strange occurrence here two nights ago." She began as she sat next to Itachi. "Three masked men came through dragging a coffin. Apparently there is a cemetery nearby that has been robbed several times. The leader isn't in this town, but he might be in the next town over." She noticed the men were not thrilled with her news.

"What?" she asked exasperated.

"Don't you think you were dancing a bit close, yeah?" Deidara said into his glass. Ari looked at him with her eyes narrowed, and then to Kisame and Itachi who both looked slightly angry.

"Oh, come on! That was the plan, to get information. Not all witnesses need to be beaten up to get them to talk you know!" she whispered carefully, making sure she was not overheard. "If you guys are going to be jerks about this then I am just going to go to my room." She got up and went to walk away when Itachi grabbed her wrist gently.

"You did what was necessary." He stated plainly. "But just remember, when you were being seductive with him, you were catching the attention of others. You will not walk anywhere alone tonight." He pulled her down next to him and she crossed her arms over her chest. Some of the men in the bar were looking over at her now and again, silently pleading for her to get up and dance again. Itachi grew tired of this and pushed her out of the booth, getting out as well.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"I tired of those bastards looking at you like meat. Come with me." He ordered taking Ari by the hand.

They walked to the dance floor, Itachi spun her around to face him and he took her hips in his hands, pulling her close to him. She moved her arms to rest around his neck and swayed with him. His left hand moved slowly up her back, beckoning her for a dip. He whispered softly in her ear, making her shiver slightly.

"I am dancing with you. You will be the one to sing." He smirked, which made her laugh.

"You win." She whispered back, letting her lips linger on his ear slightly.

"I believe we made our point. Time to retire Ari." He stopped the dance, leading her out of the bar with a hand on her back.

"Change out of those clothes, they are not you." He ordered when they got into the room. She sighed and went to the bathroom to change, secretly loving the fact that she had got to dance twice with two men. One slime ball, of course, but one of her partners as well. She smiled at the memory of dancing with Itachi. He really was something else.

* * *

A/N: There, I wanted to make up for that short chapter. This scene came into my head while I was asleep. Thought I could add some hotness. Please read and review. Makes me a happy writer!!! 


	11. Cold Hands

* * *

Disclaimer: READ THE OTHER DISCLAIMERS

Chapter 11

The four split up in their respective teams and headed in different directions. After spending two days in Stone, the groups found there was two possible places where The Order was based out of. Deidara and Kisame went to Mist, and Ari and Itachi were on their way to Snow, much to Ari's horror.

Ari always disliked the winter and was not too keen on the idea of going to a place where it was mostly always winter. Itachi told her to "deal with it" and off they went to the wonderful winter wonderland.

"Its cold." Ari deadpanned, pulling her cloak around her tighter. Itachi didn't give an answer to her obvious statement. They had been going on like this since the dance. Itachi would say little to nothing, and Ari would get mad and glare at him.

"Wait." Ari stopped, looking around. "Somethings off." She reached for her sword, Itachi following her lead. Up ahead was a cave, she signaled to Itachi to use the Sharingan to search the cave.

"No one is in there. We should camp there for the night, the wind has been picking up and it looks like it will snow." He walked cautiously to the cave and went inside. Ari followed at a safe distance, keeping her sword ready.

"I still feel like something is off. Maybe we should scout the area before we settle in for the night." Ari suggested and Itachi nodded with a slight smile.

"You ARE learning." With a confident smirk from Ari they headed off to scout the perimeter, leaving their supplies in the cave.

* * *

"Up ahead. Order zombies." Ari whispered. Itachi nodded, seeing the zombies.

"Twenty, ten for you, ten for me. Start your song." Itachi tightened his hold on his sword, looking at Ari expectiantly. She blushed and started singing the first song that came into her head.

_"At first I was afrade, I was petrified, thinking I could never live without you by my side."_

Itachi sliced through the struggling zombies, decapitating them as her strange song continued.

_"But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong, and I grew strong. I learned how to get along, and now your back, from outerspace…"_

She sliced through another zombie, dancing a bit to her tune.

_"I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face! I should have changed those stupid locks, I should have made you leave a key, if I'da known for just one second that you'd be back to bother me!"_

Itachi looked over to the now dancing girl, and watched her slice through another zombie, singing her heart out.

_"Oh now go! Walk out the door! Don't turn around now, cause your not welcome anymore. Werent you the one who tried to break me with goodbye? You think I'd crumble, you think I'd lay down and die? OH no not I! I will survive! Oh as long as I know how to love I know I'll stay alive…"_

Itachi placed a hand over her mouth to stop the awful song. Ari looked at him in confusion, before realizing that all the zombies were dead. She smiled sheepishly.

"I like that song, guess I got carried away." Itachi just raised a brow.

"There is a stream up ahead, lets get water for the night." Itachi said and moved away from the girl quickly. Ari nodded and walked next to him to the stream. They filled their water catines and were about to head back to the cave when Ari gasped.

"Is that? No way. That CANT be." She looked at the beast with a mixture of fright and awe. Soon the beast came barreling down towards them. Itachi pushed her out of the way, but slipped on a sheet of ice, letting the beast tackle him into the cold water.

Ari grabbed her sword and sliced into the beast's shoulder, it howled in pain and scampered off into the woods. Ari reached a hand for the now soaking wet Itachi.

"We need to get to the cave now. You could go into hypothermia." She dragged him by the arm towards the cave. About a mile from their shelter, Itachi collapsed. His lips were blue and he was shaking. Ari guessed it was about twenty below zero and knew she had very little time to save her partner. She picked him up over her shoulders, ignoring the fact he was MUCH bigger than her and ran to the cave.

She got the fire going with a fire jutsu that Itachi had shown her a couple weeks earlier, and begain stripping him of his clothes. He was unconsious which made it much easier to deal with. Once all of his clothes were removed, she changed him into dry ones and placed her cloak on top of him like a blanket. His skin was starting to turn a normal color and it made her relax a bit. She rigged a clothes line with her boot laces and hung his wet clothes up near the fire. Once everything was taken care of, she went back to his side.

"Itachi, wake up." She whispered urgently. He stirred a bit, and then opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was in the cave, the second was that he was wearing his spare clothes.

"What happened." Itachi demanded, shivering slightly. Ari looked at him with worry and decided he needed more warmth.

"I need to get you warmer, just don't tell anyone about this." Her face was beet red when she removed her cloak and laid on top of him, replacing the cloak over her back. She rested her head on his chest and her hands rubbed his forarms. Itachi closed his eyes, silently enjoying the heat the girl was giving off.

"I cant believe I saw what I saw. Itachi, this Order is insane!" she said into his neck, unconsiously tickling the Uchiha.

"What was it?" Itachi asked, his voice strained. Ari narrowed her eyes, examining why his voice sounded off. She wrote it off to the cold and put her head back down.

"A yette! The Abomanable Snow Man! Itachi I sware, someone is taking all of the fictional monsters out of time and history and setting them loose on villages. If I see a vampire or a werewolf, I sware I will scream." Itachi looked down at the girl, not understanding what she was talking about, but releved that she knew what the beast was.

"Get some sleep Itachi, I will keep watch." She mumbled sleepily. He smirked down at the half asleep girl and placed his cold hand under her shirt to her toned stomach, causing her to jump slightly.

"That was cold!" she whined. He smirked and closed his eyes, letting Ari take first watch.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, midterms and term papers were calling me. :-( I am going to Nevada for my sister's wedding so I cannot promise an update until Tuesday. I will try my very best but I live in NJ and an 8 hour flight to NV is going to be bad for me. I will try to steel my fiance or mommy's laptop and write a couple of chappies. I promise this story wont be all mushy, we all know Itachi doesnt play like that! Just setting the stage. Please read and review, if i get one or two I will update before Sat, even if it kills me. Thank you to all my wonderful readers, you comments make me very very very happy:-) 


	12. Lists

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Chapter 12

"Itachi, there is nothing here but the yeti and the zombies. I don't think the base is here. Should we head to Mist?" Ari whispered to Itachi from her branch in a snow covered tree. Itachi ignored her and kept his eyes on the rising sun. Ari sighed and jumped to the ground. She ran her fingers through her rat's nest of hair and sat on the cold ground with her legs and arms crossed. She had been working on controlling and trying to strengthen her strange abilities. In addition to having a voice that could heal wounds and stop zombies, she could control minds just by humming old Gaelic songs her mother had taught her when she was young. To an extent, she could make herself invisible to those around her just by wrapping her chakra around her. Now she was working on expanding her senses to find any trance of the Order's base. Itachi had even commented on how tuned in she could be to her surroundings when she worked on it, but then commented on how she could never get very far with it because when never paid enough attention.

Itachi jumped down from his branch and crouched in front of the meditating Ari. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and she was breathing very slow and evenly. Itachi realized she was extending her hearing. An evil smirk appeared on his handsome face and he move in close to her.

"Hear anything?" he shouted. She jumped and covered her throbbing ears with her hands. He stood up, smirking at the girl lying on the ground.

"Are you nuts?! You could have made me deaf!" she covered her eyes with her left hand, resting her right on the ground. Her face paled and she felt a wave of nausea. She suppressed it and tried to stand. She got halfway up when her legs gave out and she fell to the ground. Itachi narrowed his eyes and glared at the girl.

"Get up; we need to check the southern point before we meet the others in Mist." Itachi said turning to walk away.

Ari used the tree to help her stand, but her head was throbbing so bad she could hardly see. She took a few steps and had to stop. Itachi looked back at her and saw she was struggling. He reached into his pack and took out a vial of green liquid. He walked over to her and uncorked it. He grabbed her by the back of the head gently and tilted it back.

"What…?" Ari began but her questions were replaced with the green substance. She swallowed the nasty stuff with a choke and looked at Itachi.

"Headache remedy." He said simply and soon the liquid started to relieve her of some of her pain.

They went to the south point of Snow and found nothing of interest. Eight days later they were in Mist.

"Took you guys long enough. There has been some weird stuff going on here." Kisame said as he poured himself a drink. Itachi raised a brow and motioned for him to continue. Ari sat next to Deidara in the hotel room, her head still pounding.

"Well when we got here, the villagers were all acting jumpy and crazy. One night I went to the west docks and asked a dock worker if he had seen anything strange. He told me there was a strange giant lizard in the big lake, and that it had been eating fishermen and sinking boats. I thought it was a bunch of crap of course and went to check it out." He downed the drink and poured himself another. "They were right Itachi. This thing was as big as the Kyuubi, with a long neck and a komodo like body. I've never seen any water creature like that in my life." Itachi looked to Ari who had her head buried in her hands.

"Do you know this creature?" Itachi asked coolly.

"The Loch Ness Monster. Itachi, this is getting serious. These monsters are getting worse." She said through her hands.

"I've hear of monsters that are half wolf and half man in Grass, yeah. There is also a story of a woman who has snakes for hair and turns people into stone in Rain." Deidara rubbed Ari's back soothingly as she groaned in frustration.

"Okay, there was a Siren in Leaf, a Yeti in Snow; Nessie is in Mist, Werewolves in Grass, and Medusa in Rain. Maybe what we should be doing is looking for the village where none of these creatures are, maybe that is a good place to start." Ari said as she looked at the others.

"That's a great idea, yeah." Deidara said. Kisame nodded, and Itachi smiled briefly at her.

"Time for some serious research." Ari said cracking her knuckles.

* * *

The Akatsuki made a base out of a hotel room, gathering information from the other Akatsuki, as well as from the villagers. The merchants were the best to talk to because they traveled, and had much more to offer. 

"The Kraken is in a deep lake in River." Ari said to no one in particular as she crossed River off the list of possible suspects.

"A screaming woman specter has been killing children in Cloud, yeah." Deidara said as he entered the room, followed by Itachi. Kisame and Ari looked up at the two men and then to each other.

"Got it, Banshee in Cloud." Ari scribbled it down on her paper. "What do we have left?"

"Stone only had the grave robbers; they should be on the list of suspects." Itachi said as he looked over the list Ari had written up.

"I think we should leave that one open to suggestion. I have a feeling something is going to be made of all those body parts." Ari said cryptically. The others, used to her not making much sense, nodded and left it to her judgment.

"That leaves Sound, and Pine." Kisame said finally. They all looked at Itachi, waiting his order.

"Deidara and Kisame, take Pine. Ari and I will go to Sound." The others nodded in agreement and went to pack their bags quickly.

"I had a feeling Sound was a part of this." Ari grumbled as she stuffed her clothes in her bag.

Sound was nearly deserted when they arrived. A few villagers ran for houses with boarded windows at the sight of the Akatsuki. Ari and Itachi moved quickly through the village and stopped by a well.

"This place is even creepier then before. I think we won the lottery here boss." Ari filled her canteen and sat on the ground to meditate and try and extend her hearing.

"If you scream in my ear again I will sing every Queen Song I know, off pitch, a thousand times each." Ari narrowed her eyes at Itachi, daring him to defy her. Itachi, on the other hand, had no intention of listening to any music she would threaten him with. He nodded and sat on the edge of the well.

Ari closed her eyes and focused on everything around her. She could hear the trees rustle in the wind, but no birds chirping. She could hear the heart beats of the frightened villagers, but couldn't hear any animal's hear beats. The air was thick with a feeling of dread, and Ari was suddenly overcome with the fears and thoughts of the villagers. Words and thoughts ran through her brain and the two words that were shouted over and over above all the rest were.

"The Order"

* * *

A/N: I AM SORRY! I was at my sister's wedding in Nevada and I didn't have any access to internet. I do not own Queen, by the way, and that last chapter; the song was "I Will Survive" by Aretha Franklin. I will write some more chapters quickly, I promise, I finished this chapter on the plane ride home so I am trying to be dedicated. Love to all my readers. 


	13. And So It Begins

Disclaimer: READ OTHER DISCLAIMERS

Chapter 13

The overwhelming sound of the villager's voices made Ari break her hearing extension. She looked at Itachi and nodded. They were going to need some back up.

Itachi decided that they would have a better chance if they were to aquire allies for the battle. Itachi went to Pine for Deidara and Kisame, and sent word to the Leader to gather the other Akatsuki to head for Sound. Ari was sent to Leaf to gather allies from Tsunade.

Ari couldn't voice the suspsion that this was going to be a very long war. The monsters weren't there on accident and they were monsters know mostly only by her. Ari had another thing besides monsters on her mind. For the last few weeks Ari couldn't help but notice something different about Itachi. He was not openly cruel to her anymore, but rather went out of his way to avoid being mean, even when the opportunity presented itself. Of course the screaming in her ear incident was an exception. She smiled slightly when she thought about how he had given her medicine after he hurt her head.

She stopped on the branch she landed on and thought for a moment. Did she have feelings for the cold hearted Uchiha? It wasn't love, per say, but more of a growing infatuation, a fascination. She continued on her way, nearing the boarder of Leaf she jumped to the ground and was surrounded by ANBU.

"Hello there! I wish to speak with the Hokage please." She smiled at the team. They nodded and motioned for her to follow.

* * *

"Ari, good to see you again. Can I assume this isn't a holiday for you?" Tsunade sat across from the girl Akatsuki who smiled sadly at her.

"No unfortunately, but I could sure use a vacation right about now." She started telling Tsunade about the different monsters and how they came from her time and dimension, and how The Order was based in Sound.

"Sound huh? I had a feeling; you don't think it is Orochimaru do you?"

"I don't think so, it's not particularly his style, is it? I want to know if you would spare a team or two to aid us in the destruction of The Order." Tsunade sat back in her chair and thought carefully.

"I can spare only one. The monsters are starting to destroy or allied villages and my shinobi are low in numbers in the village. We have lost quite a few as well. I have Genin going on B-class missions for goodness sakes." She took a drink of her sake.

"One will be plenty Hokage, thank you." Ari bowed her head as Tsunade studied her carefully.

"Perhaps I can get a team from Sand as well, but they have been having strange beings that drink blood for them to worry about."

"Tell Garra-sama that wooden stakes to the heart do the trick nicely." Ari said absently, cleaning the dirt out of her nails. Tsunade raised a brow and wrote a note to send to Sand.

* * *

Itachi made his way to Pine, only coming across one small band of zombies. With no one around, he sang a strange song Ari sang often, and dispatched the offending zombies. A strange thought came into his head as he was fighting though. He realized he missed Ari's presence. Her never ending questions, her subtle ways of torturing him with her graceful movements. She was getting into his human side, a side he wanted desparatly to suppress, and many times he considered killing her, and getting rid of the temptation all together, but he could never bring himself to do it. He knew it wasn't love, but rather a deep connection and strange inability to find fault in her. She understood him, and what made him happy and what made him mad and tested the thin line between it constantly. He couldn't stand it when other men would look at her, his fierce protection border lined obsession and it frightened him to a degree. He also couldn't wait to see her again, to hear her say his name, either in greeting or pure annoyance, it made no never mind. It was her voice, her grace, her pure life energy that attracted his dark soul like a fly to a lamp.

He found Deidara and Kisame as well as Sasori, Zetzu and Tobi in Pine. After a brief synopsis of what he an Ari had found in Sound, they agreed to consult with the Leader and get reinforcements.

* * *

It would be almost three years before Ari would meet up with the other Akatsuki. The war had begun and the allies of Leaf and Sand fought from the north and east while the Akatsuki fought from the south and west.

Naruto became Hokage or Leaf and married Hinata. They made Ari a general in their army, and she led many victories against the Order. Sasuke left Leaf again, but as a diplomat to other nations, rallying support. Sakura and Kakashi stayed in Leaf as the leaders of the Home Guard, the last protection of the village.

Deidara and Sasori went back to their original villages and gathered support and troops to aid in the Akatsuki offence. Kisame led a major battle in Pine against the Werewolves, killing most of them, but loosing 65 percent of his troops.

Itachi was sent on a secret mission to find the identity of the Order's leader and had not been seen for over a year. Most thought he had died, but those who know him know otherwise.

The Great War tried many people's souls and hearts. Food was hard to come by, and many people starved. Children were being used as soldiers and civilian women, who had never before engaged in battle, were in the front lines with the men. The war blurred the lines of villages and the once important squabbles of the individual villages soon were lost. The Order grew stronger as the allied forces grew weaker and it was looking like a loosing battle. The Order took captives of battles and turned them into slaves, or more monsters.

Peace was a dying hope; it was a rare topic of conversation because no one truly believed they would ever see it again.

Ari, on the other hand, would fight on. She became a hero for peace and she fought very hard against the enemy. She spread the word of love and peace through out the land, and people listened.

People started fighting harder, and one group of scientist developed underground farming methods that brought more food into the villages. Over three years after they parted, Ari saw a face in the dark, a face who gave her more hope then she could give out to thousands of people.

"Itachi?" she whispered.

* * *

A/N: this is the conclusion of the second story in the trilogy. I wanted to space some time for Ari to grow and change. This war is far from over and neither is the Ari and Itachi "friendship". Please read and review. 


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